If I Could Take Your Place
by Grand Duke Jerot
Summary: This is an AU where Sasuke is stable, and Naruto is the one who leaves the village. Set after a similar timeskip period. Read and review, please.
1. Chapter 1

Before we start, I just want to get the groundwork laid down. This is a slight AU where Sasuke is the stable character, and Naruto is the one who tries to run away. Everything else is explained, so if you're interested, continue.

Bold is written letters, Italics are dream sequences.

Chapter One

War is hell.

He knew what he was getting into the moment he signed up for the academy. Death and destruction were integral to the life of a shinobi. But did he really have much of a choice? His father was a war legend. Being the only son of the White Fang of Konoha meant that Hatake Kakashi had to follow in his father's footsteps.

And, in a way, he did. The young Hatake advanced in prodigious leaps and bounds, placing him far beyond the peers. When he was saddled with a no-name girl like Rin and an immature fool like Obito, he could only assume that they would slow him down. But he paid the price.

On a mission in Rock country, Rin was separated from the group. With their sensei, Namikaze Minato, busy with the enemy forces, Obito convinced Kakashi to go against orders and save Rin.

"Those who don't follow orders are scum, but those who abandon their friends are even worse than scum."

Such passion. Burning so bright, Obito seemed to be one destined to be carved upon the Hokage monument one day. Alas, one ill fated ambush later and his name was engraved into the memorial stone. Each name upon it represented someone who was KIA, or Killed in Action. And the fact that Obito was carved upon that stone settled heavily upon Kakashi's shoulders. Whether survivors guilt, or plain old loneliness, the burnt out ninja started every day at the monument to remind himself. Never again would he allow another teammate of his to be remembered upon that stone. Even with such strict precautions, he failed once more.

His student, Uzumaki Naruto, son of his sensei and the Forth Hokage, ran for the hills when he discovered who his father was. Kakashi had been on a mission at the time, but hurried onwards without rest when he heard the news.

Sasuke, one of his other students, tried to face Naruto head on. The headstrong child seemed to only respond to blunt force, and Sasuke was desperate to keep him from leaving. Even though he would not admit it, Uchiha Sasuke had a bond with Uzumaki Naruto. One stronger than brothers. So, with the clash of two such titans, Sasuke felt like he had no other choice. Concentrating the pure destructive properties of lightning into his hand, the jutsu-enhanced fist punched through the other boy's heart. Sinking to the depths of the lake that they battled upon, the fourth's legacy's golden locks were never to be seen again.

Without the energetic blonde to hold together the team, it came apart quite rapidly. Frustrated with her teammate's mortality, Sakura apprenticed herself to Tsunade, the legendary medical ninja, pushing herself to likewise be able to heal the gravest of wounds. Sasuke, on the other hand, took on as many missions as he could, to copy new jutsu and hone his talents. In reality, both of them just were trying to forget the heartbreak that was Naruto.

Kakashi sighed. Another day started with the mourning of teammates.

2222 2222

_Sakura was tired of being weak. Every day, Sasuke and Naruto just got better and better. It seemed that every minute not spent training meant she was falling behind. As a kunoichi, she just didn't have the drive an motivation to succeed. That was why when such a legendary kunoichi like Tsunade had arrived in the village, Sakura snapped at the opportunity. She begged for an apprenticeship and Tsunade was more than happy to supply._

_At first, the work load was easy. Just an hour of one on one with Tsunade's assistant, Shizune, and some scrolls to take home and read on advanced anatomy. Then the personal training got longer and she was to work hours in the hospital. With each passing day she became more immersed within her medical training. Finally, Tsunade decided to take time out of her busy schedule to personally work with Sakura._

_She made her way, that fateful day, to the Hokage's tower. Sakura ascended the steps to Tsunade's office, nervous at what would await her within. Her hand wrapped around the metal handle, but before she could open the door, it burst open. Storming out of it was Naruto, a folder in his hand. He looked more furious than she had ever seen him before. Tsunade called after him, but it was if she wasn't even there._

_At the doorway, Sakura paused expectantly, but Tsunade gave no explanation, and they went directly into training. Her task for the day was to re-start the heart of a "dead" fish. That was one of the most difficult tasks that she had ever been put to. The early morning melted into the afternoon and eventually the evening as the training tried to push the earlier events from her mind. But it embedded itself deeper into her mind the more she waited. The curiosity was just too much to bear. By the time she finished, near midnight, she decided to stay up a bit longer and pay a visit to see Naruto. She wanted answers about what happened._

_Immediately from the Hokage's tower, she made her way to Naruto's apartment, which was surprisingly close. The first thing that she noticed upon arrival was the lights were on. Even at this late hour, the hyperactive blonde was still going. She made to knock upon the door, which promptly opened, causing her to rap her knuckles across her teammate's head. He was fully dressed and war a large travel pack. There was no sign of the usual smile that typically was plastered on his face._

_"Sakura." He stated dully and curtly. "What a surprise. This makes things earlier"_

_"What do you mean?" She asked, not putting all the evidence together._

_"I'm leaving" He stated simply, as if it were fact. "I'm done with Konoha. I've got letters I've written for all of you. If you could give them to people for me, I'd appreciate it. They're in the apartment."_

_"What? But why are you leaving?" It didn't make sense. "You love Konoha. You wouldn't ever abandon it, Naruto. What about your dream?"_

_"I can't stand this place anymore. Tsunade opened my eyes on accident today." Naruto noticed the blank look on her face, so he continued. "Imagine that someone did something horrible to you. And they were your father. And the village made him do it to you. Wouldn't you be mad at the village too?" He searched her eyes for some glimmer of sympathy or understanding, some empathy for his plight._

_But she couldn't understand. Not as she was. Everything she was taught and told as a child prevented her. "So, you're just going to leave? Is that your answer? I thought you never gave up!" With sentence, each word, her voice rose. "If I need to, I'll knock some sense into you and get Tsunade-sama. I'll-"_

_Sakura felt the fist that collided with her stomach before she even saw Naruto move. She stumbled to the ground in pain. Before she was consumed from the darkness, she heard:_

_"I love you Sakura, I really do. But this is more important…"_

2222 2222

Sakura attempted to maintain composure as she woke with a start, but failed, trembling in her bed. It had been three years since Naruto left, and met his end by Sasuke. Immediately turning to the drawer next to her bed, she pulled out a slip of paper. Upon it was one of the last recorded memories of Uzumaki Naruto. Unfolding it, she began to trace the words with her fingers, knowing it by heart already.

**Dear Sakura,**

**As you may already know, I have decided to leave. It won't make sense but… (indistinguishably scratched out words) I'm just going to be honest and simple. I'm an idiot and a loser. Everyone in the village hates me. And now that I know that it's their fault for everything that has happened, there's no way I can stay. Maybe one day I'll come back for you and Sasuke and Kakashi and everyone else who was nice to me.**

**- Uzumaki Naruto**

Sakura laughed bitterly. Naruto was a dreamer, but he had the determination to make his dreams come true. And once his dreams were shattered, he ceased to live. Once the depression of the dream wore off, Sakura ambled down to her kitchen to have breakfast. While cooking up eggs, a red envelope was slid under the door. She never bothered to get up early enough in the morning to see the ANBU actually place these letters, but she still knew it was important. Stopping for a moment, she picked it up. Opening it up, it contained a small slip.

**A-rank mission debriefing at 9:00**

Taking her eggs off the stove and picking up a medical scroll, she sat down to eat. With such an important mission coming up, it was important for her to prepare before the debriefing. For a medical ninja, 30 minutes of studying could mean life or death for a teammate on the battlefield.

2222 2222

_They stood opposite of each other. The name of the battlefield was quite appropriate, actually. "The Valley of the End" they called it. Back during the founding of Konoha, Uchiha Madara and the future Shodaime battled, forever shattering their friendship , and Madara himself. Generations later, it was time for Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto to re-enact the tale._

_"Why turn your back on Konoha?" Sasuke yelled over the roar of the waterfall nearby. "You've never given up! What about Tazuna? What about Gaara? What about Sakura?"_

_"You'd never understand, Sasuke." Naruto yelled back. "Everyone betrayed me. I'm not going back. And you know that I never go back on my word."_

_"Then I guess that we can't solve this with words." Sasuke solemnly replied. Closing his eyes, he drew upon the chakra necessary to bring forth his most powerful weapon, the Sharingan. He would not be able to hold back if he were to stop him. "I'll bring you back even if it means that I have to break all the bones in your body!"_

_And so it began. Lashing out with pure power, Naruto summoned an army of shadow clones to assault his former teammate. However, using the perceptive abilities of his Sharingan, Sasuke easily dispatched them. But he wasn't finished. Taking a deep breath, he spurted flames from his mouth at Naruto, who promptly dived into the water. Sasuke scanned the are for signs of his orange clad teammate. He was not disappointed as he saw Naruto with another shadow clone forming a spiraling ball of chakra in his hand._

_"Are you so desperate to run?" Sasuke asked, the fury edging through in his voice. "Do you think you can kill me?"_

_"Stop calling me weak!" Naruto roared. His facial features elongated, and sky blue eyes turned a gory red. "I can make my own decisions!" And upon the last utterance, the enraged blonde rushed forward._

_Reluctantly, but without hesitation, Sasuke formed the Chidori in his hand. A weapon of pure lightning was the only thing that could possibly go up against such a powerful attack as the Rasengan._

_The two met, and one fell. Naruto dropped to his knees, Sasuke's hand where his heart should have been. Blood poured out of everywhere - seemingly fleeing his failing body._

_"Tell Sakura…" He eked out "That I'll miss her." And he slowly sank to the bottom of the lake, entombed in its murky depths._

2222 2222

Sasuke's eyes snapped open, his face betraying no emotion. Another day, another nightmare. They happened so much, between Itachi and Naruto that they had completely ceased to faze him. Seeing no point in going back to bed, Sasuke slipped out of the covers and went to the training room in his house.

When he was little, his brother's complete and utter massacre of his family scared him away from the manor he grew up in. However, after all the years of hard training as a ninja, he grew out of such petty affairs. All that really mattered was that he was able to renovate it enough to live in.

Sentiments were for the weak.

He struck the targets, trying to clear everything from his mind, but he could not. His mind drifted to the mysterious scroll Sasori no Akasuna had given them on their last mission. The insane missing-nin had claimed that it had to do with Orochimaru and another expatriot of Konoha. His curset artifice gave out before he could elaborate, and the scroll was directly addressed to the Hokage. He would simply have to wait to find out.

Working his way through all of his stances and training regimens, he returned to his kitchen. Waiting inside was none other than his sensei, Hatake Kakashi.

"Yo." The leader of team 7 stated nonchalantly. "Shikamaru told me we have a mission, and wanted me to let you know. We've got to be at the Hokage's tower in two hours."

Immediately, the enigmatic teacher disappeared off to wherever he spent his time. Sasuke guessed it was to spend some "alone time" with those perverted books.

Turning to his counter, he pulled out some rice from a cabinet, dumping it into the steamer. After taking care of the rice, he opened up his fridge for some vegetables. Expediently, he chose a tomato and some carrots. The ingredients were quickly put together into a sensible meal. Once he finished eating, he returned to his room to pack for the upcoming mission.

2222 2222

At 9 o'clock sharp, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi all stood before Tsunade in her office. Actually, Sasuke and Sakura were quite surprised, because usually Kakashi would be a couple hours late to everything. Immediately when they saw him there, they new something was going on.

"You all know about the scroll that Sasori no Akasuna gave us." Tsunade stated.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama." Sakura replied. "In defense of Kazekage-sama, we eliminated Sasori. He gave us the scroll."

"I am to assume that it has relevance to the mission?" Sasuke asked, always managing to be rude in a polite manner.

"Yes." Tsunade replied. "It gives directions to one of Orochimaru's key research labs, as well as outlining his general operation."

"So, we're going to take out the lab?" Sasuke asked.

"There's one more thing." Tsunade said. "The scroll has the name of the 'expatriot' that he mentioned."

"Who does he have?" Kakashi asked, saying something for the first time at the debriefing.

"I'm quite sure that this is some kind of mistake, but I'm not taking chances here." Tsunade told him. "It claims that the expatriot is Uzumaki Naruto."

(End of Chapter)

A.N. Okay, I'm not exactly going to write these on a timetable. I want to do this right, not quickly.


	2. Chapter 2

First of all, I just want to say

Wow.

This fic has accomplished more in 12 hours of being online than the rest of my fics put together. So, I'm going to say thanks, and get on to work. Sorry it's taking so long, it's College Application Season right now.

Draklin: I know I sent you a reply already, but I wanted to give this answer to all the readers. No, this is not a Naruto joins Orochimaru fic. This chapter will explain further.

Chapter 2

The entirety of team seven was put into shock.

"Tsunade-sama!" Sakura exclaimed. "Naruto's dead! How could he be there?"

"Naruto?" Kakashi asked, incredulous. "Are you certain? Sasori is an enemy combatant who wishes for Orochimaru to be dead. Surely he was trying to get us to kill him."

"I have reasons to believe that what Sasori says is true." Tsunade replied. "According to the scroll, Naruto didn't die. He's been laying low outside of the fire country, and two months ago was captured by Sound ninja."

"And why do you think that this is true?" Sasuke asked. "You must have something to go on beyond a foe's dying words."

"Don't worry how I know." the Godaime told Sasuke, exasperated. "At the very least, we believe the location is true. We've sent scouts out, to confirm that the coordinates specified are within the control of Sound. They will meet up with you once you've made it to the facility. We've got a team of ANBU to back you up. You are to take locate and destroy the facility, taking out leading personnel first. Eliminating their higher infrastructure is the priority of this mission. However, be on the lookout for Uzumaki Naruto. If you encounter him, bring him here with any force necessary."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama." All of team seven replies curtly.

"You will head out from the west gate in 30 minutes. Pack for three days of travel, round trip. I want this taken care of as soon as possible." Tsunade told them. "The ANBU team will guide you to the target, and provide assistance once at the facility. Dismissed!"

All three of them disappeared immediately to make preparations. There was no way they could fail on this mission, especially if the situation was like the Hokage described.

222222

Immediately afterwards, Jiraya burst in through the door to Tsunade's office, flanked by two ANBU. He was mildly peeved, to put it lightly.

"Tsunade!" He all but yelled "I was in the middle of important research. What could possibly…"

He immediately stopped in his tracks as soon as he saw the picture of Naruto she was holding it up.

"Leave us." She said, almost freezing the room with her attitude. The ANBU bowed respectfully, than quickly fled the room.

"Now…" She asked with a humorless smile. "How a thirteen year old boy fakes his death and successfully evades Konoha ninja for three years…"

222222

Exactly on time, all of Team 7 assembled on the meeting spot. Silently waiting for them were 4 black-clad ANBU members. One, with the distinctly featureless mask stepped forward.

"Kakashi-san, Sakura-san, Sasuke-san" They spoke. Their voice was so completely disguised that it was impossible to tell the slightest detail about it, even what gender the person was. "With all of us here, we should head out. The road is long."

Nodding, they all exited the gate, nodding to the sentries as they passed. Soon, they left the road and entered the tree line to travel more rapidly.

222222

"You kept his existence from me!" The Hokage practically screamed. "I respect your privacy, even allow you to indulge in your perverted writings, but this is unacceptable."

"And what?" Jiraya yelled back. "What would you have done? Let him go? He would have killed himself trying to escape, so you couldn't have held him here. Even you couldn't have knocked any sense into him. Don't you remember how Minato was? That kid is ten billion times worse!"

"It still would have been better had I known!" She yelled. "I prefer to not be kept out of the loop."

"Do you honestly think-" Jiraya dropped his tone to a barely audible whisper "-for just one second- that the Elders would have let you do that? They would have crammed a dead or alive order so far down your throat that-"

"Don't you dare patronize me, Jiraya!" Tsunade cut in. "I know better than you how bad the elders can be. They hated Naruto. But if I had known…"

"What?" The toad sage asked "You couldn't do anything with the information without alerting the elders, and if they found out, you'd lose any standing you had whatsoever. Danzo would have deposed you, and the entire village would collapse. Do you think you really would want that to happen?"

The Godaime Hokage just slumped in her chair. She knew when she was beat.

"I knew that Naruto wasn't dead from the start." Jiraya said "Even with a missing heart, the Kyuubi's regenerative powers were enough to sustain him. I've kept him safe, the only way I knew how."

"You sent him to Toad Mountain?" Tsunade inquired "He's way to unstable for there."

"I know…" Jiraya sighed. "Within the first week, he was asked to leave. His rage made him little more than a suicidal berserker, lashing out at anything, everything, no matter how dangerous. He drank the toad oil, Tsunade! Just gulped it down! It took Fukasaku an hour of beating the boy with his stick to save him from being stuck like a frog."

"I'm assuming that he got better." She prompted.

"He seemed to be perfectly fine." Jiraya explained "He was almost normal again, I was this close to getting the old Naruto back. He was even developing his own jutsu! But then he disappears in the middle of the night. Turns out he discovers a sound research facility and decides to destroy it as 'training'. If your squad you dispatched is still in message range, tell them to be careful. Naruto may not handle the reunion so well."

"Very well." Tsunade conceded. "I'll send a scroll to the team. I can't guarantee that they'll get it before they make it to the facility, though."

"I just hope that Naruto isn't dumb enough to go all out on them…" Jiraya said. "He's a lot stronger than the boy that you met all those years ago…"

222222

"The research facility is on the border of Grass and Rain" The ANBU explained to Team 7. "Orochimaru has gained a reputation of operating in the territories of poor border princes, where he has little to no resistance."

"Border princes?" Sakura asked.

"Yes." ANBU replied. "Border princes are tyrants that take control of small border regions. In the larger nations, they are regularly dispatched, but in smaller countries, they just don't have the resources to police their borders so strongly. The relative anarchy makes it easy for missing nin to operate in those regions."

"Is there anything else we know about the facility?" Sasuke asked.

"The villagers don't like talking about it." ANBU said simply. "Apparently, Orochimaru uses them as fuel for his experiments. People have a habit of disappearing there if they stand out."

222222

It was nightfall when they made it to the town. All the doors were shut, and no lights were on. This small town definitely didn't want to attract attention. Seeing that they would not be able to stay at an in, the team chose instead to camp in the forest, just outside of town. To be extra careful, they lit no fires.

Sitting in a circle, they began to formulate a plan.

"The scout team should be in the area." ANBU explained. "They should probably be staying in the town, keeping a low profile. We can make contact with them tomorrow. From there, we must strike the facility quickly. Our presence will not go unnoticed."

Everyone nodded, and the squad went to sleep. Sakura was the first on watch duty. She stared out of the forest at the deathly still town. Something about it just unnerved her.

_What if Naruto really is there? _Nagged at the back of her mind. What would she do?

_I'll give him a good solid jab. _She resolved. _But what's going to happen. It's not like it'll go back to what it was like 3 years ago. I miss Naruto, but things just can't be the same._

222222

That morning, the team arose, and went into town first thing. The shops were opened, and the town was in full swing… but it was deathly silent. No joy whatsoever could be derived from their sad existence.

As they walked down the main avenue that constituted the town, things were especially grim. Two men carried a stretcher covered with a linen down the street. Murmurs and gasps were heard, as the villagers cast their dread-filled gazes towards the spectacle. As they walked down the street, one of the bearers slipped, dropping the stretcher. What tumbled out of the stretcher was not a pretty site.

It (because it was too mutilated to tell) was quite probably a girl once. However, extra limbs were sewn on to the body, making it difficult to count the numbers of arms an legs. Her stomach was distended and swollen, seemingly crammed with extra organs. Worst of all, she had no eyes. In there place, there were just gaping, bloodied sockets.

The two stretcher-bearers quickly re-covered the corpse, but the damage was done. What once was a glum scene, fell to an even greater degree of deadly science.

"We need to eliminate the facility." ANBU said, unable to hide the disgust in his voice. "Now. We should find the scout team as soon as possible."

222222

"So that's the team they sent." The shadowy figure sent. "That pinkie over there looks interesting. I wouldn't mind to go a few rounds with her."

"Shut it." Another figure, definitely female, said. "We don't have time for this. They don't know we've eliminated the scout force yet, so we should take them by surprise."

"But that's boring." The first, quite probably a male, replied. "I just say that we let the prisoners loose on them and see what happens."

"So crude." The female admonished. "Do you ever think about more than just attacking directly? The element of surprise is better, and Orochimaru put me in charge. The scout team was three, so we need a third to pose. I'm assuming you want me to let _him loose, just for the extra carnage?"_

"_That'll do…" He said. "Lets fetch him and have some fun."_

_222222_

_And… that's it! It's a little short, but I wanted to stop it here. I'll start on the next chapter soon, but expect it to take a while._


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

---

Things were _not_ going well for Sakura. The scout team that they had tried to meet up with turned out to be a fake. Before they knew it, they were under attack from three Sound Jonin. The one who posed as the leader of the scout team was a woman with red hair. She didn't seem to be much of a fighter, but she was still able to mask their chakra signatures enough to ambush the team. Very dangerous in the least.

The second was a shark-like boy with pale blue hair and a large sword. Not as big as Zabuza's old meat-cleaver, mind you, but it was still large enough to make Sakura wonder how he lugged it around with such speed.

The third person was the one who worried her the most. From the point that the battle had started, the orange-haired boy had transformed into some kind of monster. His skin flexed with unnatural muscles and a deep orange color as he charged the group in range. She definitely did not want to test out his strength first hand.

"Kakashi-san! Sakura-san! Sasuke-San!" ANBU-san called out to them. "Head on to the facility! We can take care of them!"

Team 7 nodded, and bounded past the assailants. As Sakura attempted to disengage from the combat, the light-haired boy moved to intercept her.

"Oh no you don't, pinkie!" He yelled, bringing his sword up to cut through Sakura.

Rage filled her at the nickname. _No-one calls me that, and gets away with that!_ Concentrating the chakra in her hand, she blasted him with her strongest punch before continuing. _There's no way he could have survived that._

---

As the sounds of battle faded, Team7 made it to the entrance to the facility. Despite being well hidden by a genjutsu, Sasuke was able to crack it with his Sharingan with ease. Sakura broke down the door with her fist, leaving a dark portal into the building.

---

As soon as Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi were at a safe distance away, the ANBU and the Oto-nin ceased to fight.

"Do you really think this will work, Karin-sama?" ANBU-san asked in a relaxed pose.

"Right before we got your signal, we took Naruto-kun off of his drugs." Karin replied. "He should be fully awake right about now, and trying to escape. He'll do everything in his power to get out, and that means using _it._ When he does, he'll kill them, and we can use the remains to clone Orochimaru-sama an Uchiha body."

---

They searched room after room, trying to find their old teammate. Each successive room just made them more and more anxious to find him. Eventually, they were left with only one room. Hands trembling, Sakura twisted the handle and opened the door.

---

What they saw when they entered the room was not completely unexpected, but it gave them a start.

Naruto was chained to an operation table, his body gutted like a fish, blood dripping down into the drain in the center of the room. A gritty overhead light cast gruesome shadows all over his body.

Sakura held back tears of sorrow and revulsion at the scene. She had wanted to see Naruto one last time, but not like this…

"Dobe…" Was all Sasuke could say to the gruesome scene.

"We need to bring the body back to Tsunade-sama." Kakashi said. "She will want his death confirmed."

"Or maybe we just need to tell him to come home with us." Sasuke remarked, smirking as he glanced back towards the door.

"I don't think so, Sasuke-teme." A voice called out from behind them.

---

Standing behind them was Uzumaki Naruto, garbed in a rough tunic of black and orange, obviously worn with dirt and blood.

"You see, I won't let you take me back to Tsunade." He explained, giving them time to get over their shock. "Because that means that she can forgive herself about me. I'm not going with you so she knows that I'm out there, hating her and everyone in Konoha for what they did. I wish she had sent someone else, but you're here now, and there's no going back."

"What do you mean, dobe?" Sasuke yelled, the first to regain his nerves. "We came here to save your sorry ass, and you're going to try to kill us?"

"It's either me or you, teme. I'd rather die than go back to Konoha." Naruto replied. "And I personally guarantee you that my will to live is quite strong. Now, which of you wishes to die first?"

Sasuke took a step forward, drawing his sword, but Sakura intervened. "No, Sasuke." She told him quietly. "This is my fight. I have to stop him this time." Nodding, Sasuke backed off. Tugging her gloves to make sure that they were on tight, Sakura turned her focus back on Naruto. "This time you won't get me by surprise, Naruto-san."

"Ah, Sakura-chan. I see you're the only one with balls on the rescue team." The blonde sneered, stretching his limbs, making sickly audible pops as he did. "But guts can't win against me. You're still the little girl that couldn't even beat Ino all those years ago."

"We'll see." She whispered before charging. Bringing her fist back, she concentrated chakra in her hand to blast Naruto much like she had the light-haired boy. Jumping to the side, her opponent easily dodged the attack, but he wasn't prepared for the explosion which threw him into the opposite wall.

"You've been training with Tsunade?" Naruto practically laughed at her. "So, what are you going to do, _heal_ me to death?"

The kunoichi didn't even dignify the taunt with a verbal response, only one of steel. The shuriken pinned his tunic to the wall, _hard_. She charged him before he could realize what was going on, and brought her fist to bear on the blonde. But looking into his eyes, she hesitated. _How can I expect myself to kill him?_

It was within that instant that he broke free, but not enough to fully escape the attack. Sakura's hand grazed his arm, and it exploded.

Blood splattered all over the room and its inhabitants. Much more than there should have been in his arm.

"Sakura-san!" Naruto panted, clutching the remains of his arm. "I never expected you to channel chakra like that. Hurts like a mother-" his taunt was cut short by a groan as his arm grew back in the space of a few seconds. "All better! Ready for round two?"

"We don't have time for this, Sakura!" Kakashi called out. "Sasuke! Get in there and help her!" The old scarecrow of a man lifted his headband to reveal his sharingan, and grabbed his arm as he formed the Chidori. "I think that Naruto will only respond to brute force."

'But do you really think that you can do that, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto laughed. "Personally, I think that you'll have to do a lot better than last time. But who knows, I could be wrong!" Smirking, he flew through a few hand seals before yelling out "Maho Bunshin no Jutsu!"

That stopped team 7 dead in their tracks. The blonde before them doubled over as gallons of blood flowed out of his mouth, onto the ground into two distinct pools. The pools quickly formed into exact doppelgangers of the Konoha expatriot.

"You like them?" The blonde asked, punctuating his statement by spitting out the remaining blood. "Figured this one out myself. Toughest clones you can make. Just about as unkillable as the creator. Assuming" now, the three Narutos charged Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi "The shinobi is tough enough to survive the blood loss."

Team 7 scattered, each of the Narutos following their targets in pursuit.

Sakura unloaded handfuls of shuriken into her assailant to no avail. Ducking and weaving to avoid the larger boy's strikes, she waited for him to overstep. Fifteen moves into the exchange, the clone reached too far with a spinning kick, and stumbled. Concentrating her chakra into a concise blast, she dispelled the clone with a single strike, the blood flowing over the floor.

Sasuke had a much easier time dispatching his foe, simply waiting for the dobe to hit him. Catching the blonde's right hook with his left hand, he simply stated "Chidori Nagashi." Electricity flowed through the Raven-haired boy's body and into his opponent, frying him completely. The Naruto turned out to be a clone as it fell apart, much like Sakura's.

Kakashi had the hardest time of the three, unfortunately discovering that his Naruto was _also_ a clone as he drove his Chidori into the boy's gut. The third blood clone pummeled the caught arm with elbows and knees until Kakashi heard an audible _snap_. Grimacing, he decapitated the clone with a kunai in the other hand. The clone fell apart and released his damaged appendage. Kakashi winced as it fell limply back to his side. But that wasn't what he was worried about at the moment.

All of Team 7 was thinking the same thing; where was the real Naruto?

"Looking for me?" Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi turned once more to the doorway of the lab, seeing one more Naruto. However, this one _must_ have been the real one, because he carried a good sized gourd under his arm. "I know, this must be such a fun reunion for all of you, but it's time I ended this." Uncorking the gourd, he drank greedily from it. Team 7 rushed him, determined to stop him from completing his jutsu. But as soon as they turned their backs on the inert piles of blood, arms formed from them and grabbed their legs, holding them in place.

Emptying the bottle, Naruto smashed it on the ground, and shook his finger at them. "Naughty, naughty!" Naruto smirked. Then he went through another set of hand seals, creating a flame just inches from his lips. "Sayonara." Smashing his fist into his gut as hard as he could, Naruto released the liquid that he had just drunk. Liquid that was flammable. And filled with chakra.

KABOOM!!!!

A massive fireball enclosed the entire facility as the explosion rocked it to its core.

---

"It seems that the fight is over." Karin said to no-one in particular.

"Who do you think won?" ANBU-san asked. "I've never seen a Katon jutsu that big."

"I believe that it was Naruto." She replied. "I knew that he was hiding his gourd of Toad Oil. We found it the first week we were interrogating him, but we left it in his hiding place for this. My only concern is whether he burned Sasuke-san's body too badly for us to recover DNA from."

"Shall we recover the bodies, Karin-sama?" ANBU-san inquired. Nodding silently, Karin gave them the order, and the ANBU team sped off to the facility.

---

Team 7 had made it out of the explosion solely due to quick thinking on Kakashi's part. Seeing what Naruto was about to do with the Toad Oil with his Sharingan, the Jonin was able to erect a wall between the assault to protect Sakura. Sasuke reflexively used Kawarimi no Jutsu to escape once he saw the fireball emanating from his former teammate's mouth.

"What was that?" Sakura asked bewildered as she obliterated the rubble that had settled over the wall Kakashi had created.

"Some kind of Katon Jutsu. I've never seen it before" Kakashi replied simply. "I don't think he realized what it would do in such an enclosed space, especially after we made the wall."

"Whatever it was, we failed." Sasuke said. "There's no way he could have survived that."

As soon as he had said that, a fist broke the rubble, the skin burned badly. Crawling out from his self-inflicted ruin, Naruto passed out on the ground, the burns beginning to heal the way only a jinchukiri could.

"I think you spoke too soon, Sasuke." Kakashi quipped. "You forgot that he used to be Konoha's number one most unpredictable ninja."

---

Next time on 'If I Could Take Your Place": The traitor ANBU team investigates the scene of the explosion to find Team 7 alive. How do they react to this new development?

---

A.N.: Sorry for taking so long. I hit a super-gigantic writer's block, and I've had a lot of work to take care of. I'll try to update more often, but my inspiration comes to me at the most sparse of times. I hope you guys can bear with me J. And remember, reviews make me want to write more (and hopefully, quicker).

For anyone who also reads Raven Claws, I just want to assure that I'm not done with that project. I'm about 50% done with the next chapter, and I just need to clear my thoughts and concisely end it. Expect that to be in before the end of the year.


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